Lecturer: Dr. Alexander Feigel
Affiliation: Racah Institute of Physics,
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Abstract:
Molecular motors harvest chemical energy,
convert part of this energy to useful work and
dissipate the rest. Molecular motor, therefore, is
an example of a physical system that operates
at steady state out of thermal equilibrium while
being coupled to two thermal bathes at different
temperatures. The systems of this type, e.g.
human created engines, tend to disintegrate with
time. I will show how motor state can be
thermodynamically preferable in the case of a
molecule that can be either in motor or in non-
motor (neutral) state as a consequence of
structural transition. The result is demonstrated
using Smoluchowski-Feynman ratchet as a
model of molecular motor. The implications for
the Origin of Life question will be discussed. For
instance, the proposed mechanism favors
emergence of motors with specific chirality and,
therefore, provides a possible explanation for
long standing problem of chiral symmetry break
during early stages of biological evolution.